OFFICIAL11 What is the main topic of the talk?

[00:00.00]Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a business class.
[00:07.00]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Let's get started. [00:08.62]Last time we were talking about the need for advertising. [00:13.01]Now let's look at how you can successfully call attention to the service or product you want to sell. [00:20.32]To succeed, you’ve gotta develop a systematic approach. [00:25.29]If you don't come up with a system . . . a plan . . . you risk making decisions that waste money . . . or even drive away potential customers.
[00:36.41]But what does a systematic advertising plan look like? [00:41.30]Well, it covers what we call the four M's. [00:45.99]The four M's... market ... media ... money ... message . . . [00:57.79]all are important areas to focus on when creating your advertising plan. [01:03.45]We'll look at them one by one.
[01:05.57]The first step is to look at your market. That's the people who might become customers ... buyers of your service or product. [01:15.83]You need to know all about your possible customers. Who are they? [01:19.86]What age group are they? [01:21.89]What do they like, or dislike? [01:23.77]How do they shop? [01:25.39]So . . . ya got that? [01:27.84]A market is a group of potential customers.
[01:32.45]Next, media. Obviously the major media are television, radio, newspapers, magazines, uh... billboards, and so forth. [01:46.55]They’re all avenues of communication. [01:49.32]And you need to figure out which media you should advertise through... [01:54.02]which media will reach your intended audience... your market. [01:58.78]So you do research, trying to determine which media will reach the most potential customers for the lowest cost.
[02:08.93]For instance, if you have a product that teachers would like, then teachers are your market . . . [02:20.59]so you ask yourself: What magazines do the majority of teachers read? [02:26.13]What TV programs do teachers watch? [02:29.73]Do teachers listen to much radio? [02:32.92]At what times of the day?
[02:35.01]Say... your research turns up two magazines that teachers read. [02:41.96]And it also shows that the majority of teachers ages 20 to 30 read the magazine about classroom activities, while most teachers older than that read the other magazine . . . the one about . . . oh, let's say educational psychology. [03:00.92]You think your product will appeal most to teachers ages 20 to 30, so you decide to put your advertisement in their favorite magazine, the one about classroom activities.
[03:13.98]You don't waste money advertising in the… the educational psychology magazine... the one that the younger teachers generally don’t read. [03:24.12]And since you're reaching the majority of teachers in your target age group, you're probably spending your money well which brings us to the third “M”—money. [03:36.35]You have an advertising budget to spend, but how do you spend it wisely? [03:41.83]Again, research is the key...
[03:45.54]Good research gives you facts. Facts that can help you decide... well, as we already mentioned... decide the right market to target and the best media to use... [03:58.99]but also when to advertise [04:01.66]or how to get the best rates. [04:04.17]Like, maybe you're advertising sports equipment, and you've been spending most of your budget during the holiday season when people buy gifts for each other.
[04:14.77]In theory, that… that would seem a great time to advertise. But maybe research shows that you're wrong... that the customers who buy sports equipment tend not to give it as a holiday gift, but want to use it themselves. [04:31.44]In that case, advertising during a different season of the year might give you better results, [04:38.13]and maybe, uh… even at lower, nonholiday rates, [04:42.59]so you actually save money.... [04:44.37]But you need to get the facts—facts that come from good research—to be certain... and know for sure you're getting your money’s worth.
[04:54.94]OK... finally, there's your message . . . what you want to say about your product—[05:02.19]Why buying it'll make the customer's life easier, or safer, or better somehow. [05:07.72]Whatever the message is, make sure you get it right. [05:12.29]Let me give you an example of not getting it right . . .and you're going to love this one! There was this soup shop. [05:23.50]The soup was really tasty, but there weren't a lot of customers. [05:27.21]The owners thought that maybe if they gave something away for free with each purchase, then more people would come buy soup. [05:34.21]So they got some cheap socks and advertised to give a pair away with each bowl of soup.
[05:41.21]But then even fewer people came to the restaurant... [05:45.23]well, you can imagine why. [05:47.77]People started to associate the soup with feet . . . they began to imagine the soup smelled like feet. [05:55.03]The advertising message—soup means free socks— was a bad choice. It was a waste of money, and worse, it caused a loss of customers![06:05.92]Now I want everyone to get into small groups and come up with some examples... not of good advertising messages, but of truly disastrous ones. [06:16.37]Think of real examples or make some up, and talk about the reasons those messages are unsuccessful. [06:23.95]Then we'll get back together and share.